I turned my head so I could hear him better.
“You’re shitting me. They’re on foot? That’s like shooting fish in a barrel. … No, that’s not far at all. What happened?” He laughed. “Mechanical issues, huh? Four hours? I can make it there in two, but I don’t see the rush. It’s almost dark, and they’ll set up camp. Look, if we lose contact, I’ll shift and pick up your scent. Just mark a few spots for me.” He cleared his throat and went quiet again. “The cop has some jail set up in the woods. Well, fucking hell, General! I thought you guys were taking off without me.”
There was the faint sound of an angry voice, but it was too muffled to hear.
“I think she’s out, but you don’t have to worry about her. There’s no way she can flash her ass all the way out there. It’s a four-hour drive.”
Four hours?I considered the timeline. Keystone had left that morning, but my arrest staggered the trip. Mechanical issues. I wondered if that meant they’d had the trailer serviced or maybe a wheel rolled off. In any case, four hours left me with enough hope that I could catch up.
“Did that blonde get away?”
My eyes widened.
“Three is better than two. You’ll get a lot for them.” He paused for a minute. “Itoldyou the deer was a good idea. Now we know what we’re dealing with. … Okay, will do.”
My pulse rocketed when the engine started up. They were after the kids? How could they have known? General could have easily ambushed us when our trailer tipped after dodging his trap, but it sounded like they were investigating how many of us there were and perhaps what Breed. We had slaughtered two of his brothers in lion form and almost a third, so this guy was taking his time formulating a plan. I remembered the growl I’d heard in the woods.
Once we began moving, I quietly unzipped my backpack and took out my phone. I changed all my settings to make sure the sound and vibrations were turned off. Instead of calling, I sent Viktor a text message that someone was following them. Just in case his phone was off, I sent the same message to Christian. When neither man replied, I remembered Viktor mentioning his satellite phone. They probably weren’t answering because they were out of range of cell phone towers.
Great.
On the upside, the empty trunk assured me that Major would have no reason to come back here and discover his stowaway.
The downside?
It was going to be a long drive.
* * *
Three hours later,the muscles in my neck felt like a box of Cracker Jack that had all stuck together. The trunk wasn’t airtight, so at least I didn’t have any trouble breathing.
What Ididhave trouble with was listening to an hour’s worth of Michael Jackson. When “Beat It” went on continual replay, I wanted to beat Major with a tire iron.
Eventually the ride got extremely bumpy, and we hit steep inclines that had me smashed against the back end of the trunk. When the car finally stopped and Major got out, I listened closely for other voices. After several minutes of silence, I pulled the release and slowly raised the lid.
Darkness surrounded me. An owl hooted from a nearby tree, adding to the unsynchronized symphony that swelled within the wild woods. Frogs were croaking, crickets chirping, and a strange bird squawked from afar.
Without raising the lid all the way up, I climbed out and quietly closed the trunk. While crouched low to the ground, I peered around both sides of the car to make sure I didn’t have company. Then I used my Mage powers to sense any energy in the area, but I felt none.
I shot to my feet and pivoted. Major had parked the car off what appeared to be a dirt road. Using my mediocre Vampire vision and what little moonlight filtered from the clouds, I spotted a neon-orange piece of material tied around a tree, something General must have left behind to mark where to pull over. Major hadn’t made any other calls that I’d noticed, but they could have been sending messages.
I marched through high grass toward a path that cut between overgrown bushes. “I’m gonna get covered in ticks.”
Major had probably shifted so he could track his brothers, and that posed a danger. If his animal caught wind of me, my plan might backfire.
On the other hand, if I didn’t do something, they were going to ambush Keystone.
After securing my backpack, I moved through the woods and focused on picking up on energy. When I detected a significant current and heard a loud roar, I fell back a step but stayed on his trail. The full moon kept peeking out from behind the clouds, providing me enough light to see far ahead in the distance. The animal moved with grace, not running or stopping to look over his shoulder. He must have been following a scent trail that led to General.
Running through city streets, climbing buildings, and hopping subways had nothing on wilderness exercise. It didn’t take long before I was winded, sweating, and regretting my life choices. Steep hills went on forever, limbs and bushes were like spears, and if I wasn’t sliding on leaves, I was twisting my ankle on a root or stepping in a hole.
When the lion’s energy intensified, I knew he’d stopped to rest. It gave me a chance to catch my breath and focus. I’d never been in woods like these—I was out of my comfort zone. I was a city girl born in a trailer park, so the idea of snakes and getting lost in the wilderness was petrifying.
Major’s lion didn’t rest for long, and before I knew it, I was hot on his trail.
After what seemed like an hour, I struggled to keep up. The bushes were dense, the ground uneven, the moon barely made an appearance, and my heart was pounding against my chest. The steep terrain made it impossible to flash after him to keep up.
Sweat trickled down my brow. My sweatshirt felt like a torture device, yet it was the only protection I had against the branches that were clawing at me like Satan’s minions. At least it wasn’t summer. Hopefully all the mosquitoes were still in hibernation.
